Toy Hammock

I'm not sure why, but where there are kids, there is bound to be a stuffed animal (or 10) nearby. When you have a baby, people start buying them for you. And then your kids get older and they start ASKING for them on their birthdays and holidays.......leading to stuffed animal overload.

I have three kids. And that mean I have about a thousand stuffed animals in the house. (Ok, maybe not REALLY a thousand, but it sure feels that way).

I don't really mind that they want their little cuddly things, but I am SO tired of constantly picking them up and trying to find somewhere to keep them. If you put them in the toy box, you run out of room for actual TOYS in there. If you keep them on the bed, you have to move them every night and put them back every morning. Too much work for an already over worked mom, if you ask me. 

I know that there are those triangular netting-type things to hang in the corner of the room to store all the stuffed animals in......but if you ask me, they are kind of cheap looking and are bound to break in no time. Besides, they look kind of dorky. 

But I'm desperate. 

And also being frugal (Ok, cheap) I start thinking of how I could MAKE some hammocky-thingy to hang in their room that wouldn't look so bad. I must be able to use something I have already...... Fabric? Not stretchy enough. Oh, YARN! And thanks to the internet, a few clicks lead me to this forum which had a pattern in one of the responses. I added about 10 rows because I didn't feel like it was big enough, but otherwise made it according to the pattern listed.

All loaded up.... whoops! I was so excited to try it that I forgot to weave in the strings....

After loading up the hammock, I realized that one was not going to be enough to hold all of the cuddly animals. AND, now my son needs one for his room too. It's a good thing it's an easy pattern. Off I go to make another one.....

TOY HAMMOCK
7oz worsted weight yarn
size H crochet hook

ch 9, sl st in first st to make a circle. DO NOT TURN.
Row 1: ch 7, sc in circle, ch 5, dc in circle. TURN.
Row 2: ch 7, sc in first loop, ch 5, sc in next loop, ch 5, dc in same loop. TURN.
Row 3: ch 7, sc in first loop, ch 5, sc in next loop (repeat to end), ch 5, dc in last loop (this will be your second stitch in the last loop). TURN
REPEAT Row 3 for Rows 4-41 (or more if you would like to make your hammock bigger).
Last Row: ch 5, sc in first loop, ch 3, sc in next loop (repeat to end), ch 5, dc in last loop.
Fasten off and weave in ends.

Hang with hooks in the corner of the room at your desired height and load up with stuffies! Yay! No more teddy bears on the floor!

Bearded Beanies

Well, Pinterest hits again.....

I kept seeing bearded beanies (hats) show up on my page and I knew that I just HAD to make some for my family this year. I had a feeling that they would be funny. But I never dreamed that they would be such a hit! I managed to make them for my two nephews, my niece, my brother, and my daughter (though hers was a little different......see below).

I tried to match hair color and age of recipient so they would be as real looking as yarn beards could be.

Oh. My. Gosh. 

I still laugh when I look at the pictures!

My brother and nephew wearing their new beards.

While I was knitting and crocheting these gifts, my 4 year old daughter decided that she wanted one too. Now, Penelope is a very girly girl, so I was surprised to hear her request..... until she explained it more. It made perfect sense.

"Mom, can you make me one of those hats? But instead of a beard I want it to have pink lipgloss."   

DING, DING, DING! Great idea!!! I haven't seen any "lipgloss beanies" on Pinterest yet! I managed to tweak the beard pattern to be skin colored with lips. She was THRILLED! (Personally, I think it looks like she put too much lipstick on and went out of the lines....)

The kids with their "beards" (and my brother with his REAL beard). 

I think these were my favorite gift to give this year. I might just have to make some more..... 

(I will try to write out the instructions this week and add them here)

Clearing the Kitchen Sink Clog

As a person who likes to do everything myself, I never thought I would be doing plumbing. My husband is very good with all of the construction and maintenance of the house, and does most of it with me as a mere assistant to "hold the light here" and "get me a wrench" and "QUICK, turn off the water!" Needless to say, I haven't had to actually DO any plumbing myself. But I have watched him do a lot of different things. And that's a good thing, because now I know I CAN do basic plumbing if the need should arise. Again. 

Since we moved in our house (a year and a half ago) one of our kitchen sink drains (there are separate drains for each side of sink) has never drained well. I usually just try to avoid that side, but I finally got fed up with it. I decided to play plumber today and I took off the trap to see if there was a clog. The "trap" is the U-shaped pipe under your sink, for those of you who don't know). I cleaned out lots of gunk..... but not enough gunk to stop the water from flowing. So I decided to check the pipe that goes from the trap to the wall. OH. MY. GOSH!!!! I'm sure this thing has been clogged for YEARS. And let's just say it's a good thing I don't have a sensitive gag reflex! Seriously! That clog covered 95% of the pipe opening...... 

and this clog went ALL THE WAY TO THE WALL! More that 18 inches of solid blockage!!! How do you even CLOG a pipe like that??? One of the grossest things I have seen. Ever. (This picture doesn't do it justice... and it got even worse as I dug deeper and deeper into the pipe). But after a half an hour of digging and scraping with various tools (except for the actual pipe snake which I am afraid to use and will let my hubby do later) the pipe was as clear as it was going to get.

 I was trying to save Danny a job.... which I did. Sort of. While examining the pipe, I found that it is rusted almost all the way through and needs replacing (to avoid a WAY bigger disaster). So, add another job to HIS list, because I am not THAT savvy with the plumbing. LOL! But at least, for now, the water flows without pooling up in the sink..... Yay me! :-)

Turkey Crayon Holders

It's been a VERY long time since I've done a blog post. So, I'm sorry to those who have been waiting...... I have lots of ideas, and even some drafts, but I've been so busy with Halloween and working at the kids' schools that I just haven't had time to finish a post. With three kids, a business, and endless housework, there just isn't a lot of time left for other stuff. Add in the holidays and FORGET IT! 

So I told myself that this week, since the kids are out of school, I would find the time to finish a post. ANY post. Of course, just as I sat down at the computer, I realized that I really should be getting ready for the 22 people coming for dinner on Thursday, and that I still haven't done any fun Thanksgiving crafts with the kids! (BTW, I will be posting, in the near future, the recipes for my husband's Bleu Cheese Pear Vinaigrette and Red Bean Tasso Soup that we will be having for Thanksgiving dinner. YUM!)

So, back to the craft..... 

I have decide to put butcher paper and crayons on the kids' table this year so that they will have something to do during dinner. Of course, I can't just throw crayons on the table! I looked for little baskets or bowls or something, but couldn't find anything just right. Then I saw some little baby food jars that were just the right size. But really, really ugly! So, we decided to turn them into Turkeys! They are really easy, but I will give step by step instructions below. Here is one of them finished. Isn't he adorable?

My 6 year old said, while we were making them, "Mom, these are so cute! We should put this on Pinterest!" Haha! He knows me so well.

Here's what we did.

Step 1: Cut a strip of brown paper the height of your jar (we used a plain lunch bag because we were out of brown construction paper). Using hot glue, glue the strip around the jar as shown below.

 Step 2: Cut a circle shape out of brown paper for the head. Add eyes, a beak, and a waddle (the red dangly thing). Then hot glue the head to the jar.

Step 3: Glue feathers to the opposite side of the jar as the head. And voila! Cute Turkey Crayon Holders!

Adding New Chicks to the Flock

I am fairly new to chicken ownership, and I've been having to kind of "learn as I go." Our feed store is helpful with teaching me what food and bedding materials to use, but when it comes to the actual care of the chickens, I'm on my own. (Thankfully I have the internet to guide me.... though some things you just have to figure out on your own).

My first obstacle came when one of my original chicks turned out to be a rooster. I don't have anything against roosters, but I wasn't about to have him crow each morning and wake the neighbors (I live in town, not in the country). The other reason I couldn't keep the rooster is a mental thing. I am fine eating fresh eggs as long as I am SURE that they are not fertilized. I do not EVER want to crack open an egg and see part of a chick forming. Eww.

See my post here for how I dealt with that situation.

Everything went along smoothly and my chicks started laying beautiful and delicious eggs. With three hens, I was getting about a dozen eggs a week. This amount was just about right for my family of five. 

My next obstacle came when I decided to get a few more chickens so I could have extra eggs to sell or give away. I got some more chicks and kept them in the garage to grow big enough to add to the flock. They grew, and soon it was time to put them outside with the others. Easy, right? Wrong.

My lead hen, Flag (the red one in the pictures below) was a little upset at my wanting to disturb her pecking order and decided that she would attack the little ones. 

I was stuck. The little ones were too big to keep in the garage and too little to put in with the other hens.

Long story short, I ended up putting the little chicks in an enclosed area within the fenced area where the other hens are. You can see in the first picture the coop on the right and the little chicks' enclosure on the left (baby gate type enclosure with  cardboard top). 

After about two weeks, the hens got used to the chicks being around and I was able to integrate them. My red hen still pecked them, but they quickly fell into line in her "pecking order" and now all six are getting along fine. Well, almost. The three little ones (who aren't little any more) still don't roost inside the coop, but rather on the roof! And when I feed I have to make two food areas because Flag chases the chicks away from her food. Oh well, at least she isn't trying to peck them to death any more, right?

Coke in the Toilet

I like my toilets to be clean. (I think everyone does.) In fact, even though I don't use a lot of chemicals to clean my house, the toilets are a place that I'm not afraid to use bleach. I want to know that they are REALLY clean. You know what I mean?

With three little kids, it is extra important to keep the germs away. 

When we bought our house, the whole place was nasty. The first thing I did was scrub the bathrooms. I mean, I REALLY scrubbed them. With bleach. 

All of the main bathrooms got clean, but there was one stubborn toilet in the basement that just didn't want to cooperate. I knew it was disinfected, but it just wasn't clean. It's not a bathroom we use often (it's in a room that is being renovated), so I wasn't that worried about it. But over the past few months it has started to bug me. No matter how much I scrubbed, it still looked dirty! I knew there must be a way to get rid of the rust and hard water stains (without spending a lot of money or using crazy harsh chemicals).

While looking for recipes for homemade bathroom cleaners, I came across this post HERE. Coke in your toilet? What?!?

Of course I HAD to give it a try. I mean, what did I have to lose? I didn't have any Coke, but I did have some Diet Dr Pepper. I've seen what Diet Dr Pepper can do with a Mentos....... and to a penny..... so I was confident that it would work as well as a Coke. 

Here is the before picture. I cleaned this toilet. I swear. That discoloration is from the rust stains. Eww.

I dumped a can of Dr Pepper in the bowl, and then dumped another one in just to be sure there was enough soda to do the work. (The website linked above used a 2-liter, so I probably should have used more, but this is all I had.)

Toilet looks even nastier with the soda in it. Bleh.

I let the soda sit for 30 minutes and then gave it a quick scrub with a toilet brush. One flush later and WOW!

Ok, now THAT is clean. Yay! (There is still one tiny ring of rust around the top of the water line, but overall I would consider this a success. I might try again with a 2-liter of actual Coke, just to see.)

Kinda makes you wonder what soda does to your insides.......

Canned Tomato Fail

Argh! I get so frustrated when something doesn't work out. 

I've been getting tons of tomatoes off my plants. Yay! This is just two days worth:

Then, to prepare them for canning, I spend hours blanching and peeling them:

I've canned a thousand tomatoes without any problems. Today? I wasted 3 hours of peeling, coring, chopping, and boiling. And it wasn't just time that got wasted......I wasted 20 POUNDS of tomatoes!! I don't know what I did wrong, but ALL eight of my pint jars leaked when I took them out of the canner. And that means that ALL eight jars are not sealed properly and have to be tossed. What a waste!

See the red on the towel under the jars? That shouldn't be there. As soon as I pulled the jars out of the canner, they bubbled out through the seals. That means that there is food between the lid and the jar which can spoil and ruin the seal.

And not only that, the juice/water is on the bottom and all of the tomatoes floated to the top. Now they are not submerged under liquid like they are supposed to be.

What did I do wrong? Did I over or under tighten the lids? Did I boil them too short or too long? I'll never know. I thought I did everything the same as the last time (when all the jars sealed with no problems).

I'm glad that summer is coming to an end. I love the warm weather, but I'm ready for crisp fall air and sweaters. And most of all, I'm ready for NO MORE TOMATOES to can. I think I'm "canned out" for the year. I know I shouldn't focus on this one failure, but I hate wasting my time. Grrr!


**UPDATE**
It turns out I didn't have to waste my tomatoes. All of the jars sealed, though with tomato juice in between the lid and jar. So, as long as I used them quickly (before the juice in the seal broke down), I didn't have to toss the tomatoes. (I hate to waste food). I made salsa, tomato sauce, sweet and sour sauce, and fed tomato based meals to my family all week. I don't feel so bad about my Tomato Fail anymore. :-)